16-1

Capital Structure Theory 16.3

• Modigliani and Miller Theory of Capital Structure• Proposition I – firm value• Proposition II – WACC

• The value of the firm is determined by the cash flows to the firm and the risk of the assets

• Changing firm value• Change the risk of the cash flows• Change the cash flows

LO2

16-2

Capital Structure Theory Under Three Special Cases

• Case I – Assumptions• No corporate or personal taxes• No bankruptcy costs

• Case II – Assumptions• Corporate taxes, but no personal taxes• No bankruptcy costs

• Case III – Assumptions• Corporate taxes, but no personal taxes• Bankruptcy costs

LO2

16-3

Case I – No Taxes or Bankruptcy Costs

• Proposition I• The value of the firm is NOT affected by

changes in the capital structure• The cash flows of the firm do not change,

therefore value doesn’t change

• Proposition II• The WACC of the firm is NOT affected by

capital structure

LO2

16-4

Case I - Equations

• WACC = RA = (E/V)RE + (D/V)RD

• RE = RA + (RA – RD)(D/E)

• RA is the “cost” of the firm’s business risk, i.e., the required return on the firm’s assets

• (RA – RD)(D/E) is the “cost” of the firm’s financial risk, i.e., the additional return required by stockholders to compensate for the risk of leverage

LO2

16-5

Figure 16.3 – Cost of Equity and WACC (M&M without taxes)

LO2

16-6

Case I - Example

• Data• Required return on assets = 16%, cost of debt =

10%; percent of debt = 45%• What is the cost of equity?

• RE = .16 + (.16 - .10)(.45/.55) = .2091 = 20.91%

• Suppose instead that the cost of equity is 25%, what is the debt-to-equity ratio?• .25 = .16 + (.16 - .10)(D/E)• D/E = (.25 - .16) / (.16 - .10) = 1.5

• Based on this information, what is the percent of equity in the firm?• E/V = 1 / 2.5 = 40%

LO2

16-7

The CAPM, the SML and Proposition II

• How does financial leverage affect systematic risk?

• CAPM: RA = Rf + A(RM – Rf)

• Where A is the firm’s asset beta and measures the systematic risk of the firm’s assets

• Proposition II• Replace RA with the CAPM and assume that the

debt is riskless (RD = Rf)

• RE = Rf + A(1+D/E)(RM – Rf)

LO2

16-8

Business Risk and Financial Risk

• RE = Rf + A(1+D/E)(RM – Rf)

• CAPM: RE = Rf + E(RM – Rf)E = A(1 + D/E)

• Therefore, the systematic risk of the stock depends on:• Systematic risk of the assets, A, (Business

risk)• Level of leverage, D/E, (Financial risk)

LO2

16-9

Case II – With Corporate Taxes 16.4

• Interest is tax deductible

• Therefore, when a firm adds debt, it reduces taxes, all else equal

• The reduction in taxes increases the cash flow of the firm

• How should an increase in cash flows affect the value of the firm?

LO2

16-10

Case II – Example 1

Unlevered Firm Levered Firm

EBIT 5000 5000

Interest 0 500

Taxable Income

5000 4500

Taxes (34%) 1700 1530

Net Income 3300 2970

CFFA 3300 3470

LO2

16-11

Example 1 continued

• Assume the company has $6,250 8% coupon debt and faces a 34% tax rate.

• Annual interest tax shield• Tax rate times interest payment• 6250 in 8% debt = 500 in interest expense• Annual tax shield = .34(500) = 170

• Present value of annual interest tax shield• Assume perpetual debt for simplicity• PV = 170 / .08 = 2125• PV = D(RD)(TC) / RD = DTC = 6250(.34) = 2125

LO2

16-12

Case II – Proposition I

• The value of the firm increases by the present value of the annual interest tax shield• Value of a levered firm = value of an unlevered

firm + PV of interest tax shield• Value of equity = Value of the firm – Value of

debt

• Assuming perpetual cash flows• VU = EBIT(1-T) / RU

• VL = VU + DTC

LO2

16-13

Example 2 – Case II – Proposition I

• Data• EBIT = $25 million; Tax rate = 35%; Debt =

$75 million; Cost of debt = 9%; Unlevered cost of capital = 12%

• VU = 25(1-.35) / .12 = $135.42 million

• VL = 135.42 + 75(.35) = $161.67 million

• E = 161.67 – 75 = $86.67 million

LO2

16-14

Figure 16.4 – M&M Proposition I with Taxes

LO2

16-15

Case II – Proposition II

• The WACC decreases as D/E increases because of the government subsidy on interest payments• WACC = (E/V)RE + (D/V)(RD)(1-TC)• RE = RU + (RU – RD)(D/E)(1-TC)

• Example• RE = .12 + (.12-.09)(75/86.67)(1-.35) = 13.69%• WACC = (86.67/161.67)(.1369) + (75/161.67)

(.09) (1-.35)WACC = 10.05%

LO2

16-16

Example: Case II – Proposition II

• Suppose that the firm changes its capital structure so that the debt-to-equity ratio becomes 1.

• What will happen to the cost of equity under the new capital structure?• RE = .12 + (.12 - .09)(1)(1-.35) = 13.95%

• What will happen to the weighted average cost of capital?• WACC = .5(.1395) + .5(.09)(1-.35) = 9.9%

LO2

16-17

Figure 16.5 – Cost of Equity and WACC (M&M with Taxes)

LO2

16-18

Case III – With Bankruptcy Costs 16.5

• Now we add bankruptcy costs• As the D/E ratio increases, the probability of

bankruptcy increases• This increased probability will increase the

expected bankruptcy costs• At some point, the additional value of the interest

tax shield will be offset by the expected bankruptcy cost

• At this point, the value of the firm will start to decrease and the WACC will start to increase as more debt is added

LO2

16-19

Bankruptcy Costs

• Direct costs• Legal and administrative costs• Ultimately cause bondholders to incur

additional losses• Disincentive to debt financing

• Financial distress• Significant problems in meeting debt

obligations• Most firms that experience financial distress

do not ultimately file for bankruptcy

LO2

16-20

More Bankruptcy Costs

• Indirect bankruptcy costs• Larger than direct costs, but more difficult to

measure and estimate• Stockholders wish to avoid a formal bankruptcy

filing• Bondholders want to keep existing assets intact

so they can at least receive that money• Assets lose value as management spends time

worrying about avoiding bankruptcy instead of running the business

• Also have lost sales, interrupted operations and loss of valuable employees

LO2

16-21

Static Theory of Capital Structure 16.6

• So what is the optimal capital structure?

• A firm borrows up to the point where the tax benefit from an extra dollar in debt is exactly equal to the cost that comes from the increased probability of financial distress

• This is the point where the firm’s WACC is minimized

LO2

16-22

Figure 16.6 – Static Theory and Firm Value

LO2

16-23

Figure 16.7 – Static Theory and Cost of Capital

LO2

16-24

Conclusions

• Case I – no taxes or bankruptcy costs• No optimal capital structure

• Case II – corporate taxes but no bankruptcy costs• Optimal capital structure is 100% debt• Each additional dollar of debt increases the cash

flow of the firm• Case III – corporate taxes and bankruptcy costs

• Optimal capital structure is part debt and part equity

• Occurs where the benefit from an additional dollar of debt is just offset by the increase in expected bankruptcy costs

LO2

16-25

Figure 16.8 – Summary of the 3 Cases

LO2

16-26

Managerial Recommendations

• The tax benefit is only important if the firm has a large tax liability

• Risk of financial distress• The greater the risk of financial distress, the

less debt will be optimal for the firm• The cost of financial distress varies across

firms and industries. As a manager you need to understand the cost for your industry

LO2

16-27

Figure 16.9 – Extended Pie Model 16.7

LO2

16-28

The Value of the Firm

• Value of the firm = marketed claims + non-marketed claims• Marketed claims are the claims of

stockholders and bondholders• Non-marketed claims are the claims of the

government and other potential stakeholders

• The overall value of the firm is unaffected by changes in capital structure

• The division of value between marketed claims and non-marketed claims may be impacted by capital structure decisions

LO2

16-29

Shortcoming of the Static Theory

• Many large, profitable firms use little debt. Why?

• Selling securities is expensive and time consuming

• If a firm is very profitable, it might never need external financing

LO2

16-30

Pecking Order Theory

1. Firms will use internal financing first.

2. They will issue debt if necessary.

3. Equity is sold as a last resort.

• Managers are sensitive to the signals that they send with the issue of new securities.

LO2

16-31

Implications of the Pecking Order

• Firms don’t have a target capital structure

• Profitable firms use less debt – they have greater internal cash flow and need less external financing

• Companies want financial slack and stockpile internally generated cash as a result

LO2

16-32

Observed Capital Structures 16.8

• Capital structure does differ by industry

• Seems to be a connection between different industry’s operating characteristics and capital structure

• Firms and lenders look at the industry’s debt/equity ratio as a guide

LO2